Trading Shots: As long as we keep watching, is Fedor Emelianenko right to keep fighting?

Fedor Emelianenko is coming back to the North American MMA scene, thanks to a multi-fight deal with Bellator, which means retired UFC and WEC fighter Danny Downes and MMAjunkie columnist Ben Fowlkes just have to discuss it in this week’s Trading Shots.

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Downes: Ring the alarm Ben because “The Last Emperor” is back! On Saturday night it was announced that Emelianenko (36-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) is coming back stateside to fight Matt Mitrione (11-5 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) at Bellator 172 in February. The place for his illustrious return? Why none other than San Jose, Calif.

Fedor, Bellator and San Jose? I bet the anticipation is already killing you. February can’t get here soon enough.

I don’t want to make this a discussion about Emelianenko’s legacy (though we’ll probably end up doing that). Rather, I want to know what you were thinking when the fight was announced. The 40-year-old Emelianenko has won both of his fights since returning to active competition. If he beats Mitrione, he could be one step closer to being that Russian guy who has the Bellator heavyweight title.

I know you’re going to watch the fight no matter what, but to what level does it interest you? How powerful is your Fedor nostalgia?

Fowlkes: First of all, a correction. I think what you meant to write there was that Emelianenko “won” both his “fights” since returning to active competition. Because the first of those return bouts was against a kickboxer with extremely limited MMA experience, and the second was a fight with light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado, who almost knocked the great one out before losing a decision that seemed at least partially influenced by the friendly and totally bizarre Russian confines in which the bout took place.

So, you know, grain of salt and whatnot.

As for what I was thinking when the fight was announced, I was buried under blankets with the flu, so my only conscious thought was: ughghghhh. Then I woke up this morning and had to read two or three articles on it just to be sure it wasn’t all a crazy fever dream.

Fedor Emelianenko

You’re right that I will watch no matter what. I feel almost powerless to stop myself, which I guess is why people keep paying this man to fight.

Right now, I feel about Emelianenko the same way I feel about ’80s and early ’90s action movie remakes. That is to say, yes, if you make a new “Total Recall” film, I will see it. I’ll also hate you for making it and myself for rewarding you for it, and I’ll probably walk out of the theater swearing that this is the last time I get taken in by this same old trick. Then I hear the words “Roadhouse” remake and I heave a sigh before admitting, yeah, hashtag would watch.

Emelianenko fights are the same way. I watch because of who he used to be, knowing full well he’s not that guy anymore, and each time I hope it’s the last time. But you know as well as I do that even if Mitrione knocks him out immediately, Bellator will still keep feeding him fights as long as he’s willing to take them. So at this point are we just waiting for Emelianenko to quit us, since we clearly can’t quit him?

Downes: We keep going back to Emelianenko thinking he’ll have that magic again. But much like your depleted, old man immune system, neither is as young as it used to be. All great athletes fade as they get older, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have skills. It’s one thing to see Michael Jordan in a Wizards uniform, but MMA is different. There’s a certain pang of guilt in watching an aging fighter step into the cage.

I wonder if we’re too quick to put fighters out to pasture, though. We’re so ready to assuage our guilt by calling for his retirement that we have a hair-trigger impulse to write someone completely off. Dan Henderson could have been crowned the UFC middleweight champion just over a month ago, and people have wanted him to hang it up for years. Emelianenko’s fighting style does rely a lot on power and youthful exuberance, but it’s not like the guy forget everything he’s ever learned.

I think the answer to your question is yes, we are waiting for to Emelianenko to retire. Even if he’s fighting someone like Jaideep Singh, people will spend their hard-earned rubles to watch him fight. But we can’t have our ice cream cones and eat them, too.

It seems a bit disingenuous to say that someone shouldn’t be fighting any more while giving the message to promoters that you’re totally going to watch it if he does. I bet there will be more stories on this site and others about that particular Bellator event than usual. I’m also willing to guess that the ratings will be above the norm.

If Emelianenko can still make money off the name and the legend he amassed years ago, why not? Is there really a difference in the danger of letting a 40-year-old Emelianenko fight and whatever risks we willingly assume when a 20-year-old kid makes his pro debut?

Fowlkes: Well, physically, yes, there’s a difference. Fighting is typically more dangerous to older people than it is to younger ones, mostly because of physiological changes that take place as we age. I went over this with Dr. Margaret Goodman back when Ken Shamrock was claiming “age discrimination” before his third fight with Royce Gracie.

But with Emelianenko it’s not so much chronological age we’re concerned with as much as “ring age.” And in his case, I don’t even think we’re really all that concerned with the possibility that he’ll seriously hurt himself so much as the possibility that he’ll hurt our precious little memories of him.

And you’re right, that is selfish on our parts. It’s also hypocritical, because we keep watching while complaining that he keeps fighting. I guess the question I’m asking myself is, what are we hoping to see from him now, exactly? Because while the decision to keep getting in the cage and throwing them things is his to make, the decision to keep paying attention to it is ours. We should at least be able to come up with a good reason for it all.

Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Danny Downes, a retired UFC and WEC fighter, is an MMAjunkie contributor who also writes for UFC.com and UFC 360. Follow them on twitter at @benfowlkesMMA and @dannyboydownes.

On March 19, 2011, 23-year-old Jon Jones brutalized UFC light heavyweight champion “Shogun” Rua to become the youngest titleholder in UFC history. But for Jones, it was only the start of a wild ride that at times spun out of control.